Mine-car stop.



w. HARTMAN.

' MINE CAR STOP'.

APPLICATION FILE-D MAR-l3. 1918.

Patented May 7,1918.

Width WILLIAM EASTMAN, OE'MASCOUTAH, ILLINOIS.

MINE-CAR s'roP.

Application filed March 8, 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, lVILLIAM HARTMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mascoutah, Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Mine-Gar Stops, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. 1

This invention relates to 'mine car stops, and has for its main object to providea simple and positive means for stopping mine cars at the shaft and for automatically releasing and loading the cars, one by one, onto the cage whereby they are carried to the mouth of the shaft.

Another object is to provide a device of the character described, in which the means that controls the movement of the cars cooperates with the axles of the cars instead of with the wheels, as has heretofore been the general practice.

A still further object is to provide a mine car stop that comprises only a few simple rugged parts that can be easily assembled and installed and which are not liable to get out of order. Other objects and desirable features of my invention will be hereinafter pointed out.

Figure l of the drawings is a top plan view of a portion of a cage in a shaft, a track leading thereto and a mine car stop constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view thereof; and

Fig. 3 is an end view of the mine car stop shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to .the drawings which illustrate the preferred form of my invention, A designates a mine shaft, B designates the cage that operates therein and C designates he rails of a track that leads from the portion of the mine being worked to the shaft A, the cage B being provided with rails c that aline with the rails C whenever the cage is in its low Or receiving position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The rails C are preferably inclined downwardly toward the shaft A so that the mine cars will move toward said shaft by gravity.

My improved mine car stopping and releasing mechanism consists of a rock shaft 1 arranged between and longitudinally of the rails C adjacent the shaft A, said rock shaft being mounted in a plurality of bear- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May "Z, 1918.

Serial No. 221,158.

ings 2, as shown in Fig. 1. The rock shaft 1, as herein shown, is provided with two similar car stopping and releasing members 3 and 3 that are arranged at an angle to each other and which are spaced apart on the rock shaft 1, each of said members being splined or feathered onto the rock shaft so that it rocks or rotates whenever a rotary or rocking movement is imparted to the rock shaft, but is free to move longitudinally of the rock shaft a certain distance under conditions to be hereinafter described. The members 3 and 3 are of such proportions and arranged on the rock shaft 1 in such relation to each other that when one of said members is in a vertical or upright position it will be in the path of the axle 6 of a car traveling on the track C, and the other memher will be inclined or lie at such an angle that said axle will pass over the same, as shown clearly in Fig. 3. An arm a is rigidly secured to the end of the rock shaft 1 adjacent the mine shaft A, said arm being provided with a lateral projection P that lies in the path of movement of the cage B. The opposite end of the rock shaft 1 is provided with an arm 5 having at its outer end a weight 5 whose function is to normally maintain the parts of the mechanism in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, wherein the stopping member 3 nearest the shaft A is elevated and the stop 3 is in its angular or depressed position.

In operation assume the parts of the device as being in the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3, the axle 6 of a mine car being held against the stopping member 3 and the arm a being in its elevated position. When the cage B descends, a portion thereof strikes the extension 4* of the arm 4t and depresses said arm to the full line position shown in the drawings, this depression causing the member 3 to assume the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3, thereby releasing the aXle 6 of the mine car that was held against the member 3 and allowing said axle to pass over the top of said member, and consequently, the car to pass onto the cage B (see Fig. 2). At the same time the stop 3 is turned to a vertical position so as to stop any other cars that are on the track C and which otherwise would roll by gravity toward the cage B. When the cage B is elevated to take the mine car carried thereby up to the mouth of the shaft, it will release the arm at and allow the weight o to rock the shaft 1 into the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3, wherein the member 3 is vertical or upright and the member 13 is inclined or at an angle thereto. In this position the aXle 6 of the car that was held behind the member 3 is released and the car will roll downwardly toward the cage B and be stopped by the member 3 where it is held in position to be automatically released upon the next descent of the cage B.

In order to absorb the shock of the loaded mine cars coming into contact with the members 3 and 3* I arrange a coiled spring 7 in front of each of said members, said spring .being interposed between the front end of the member and one of the bearings .2 of the shaft 1,, .as shown clearly in Fig. 1. To insure ease of operation, and consequently, the ready release of the members 3 and 3* from the car axles 6,1 preferably bevel the rear upper edge of said members, as indicated at 8., so that upon rotation said :members will be readily disengaged from the car axles.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I .have :devised an extremely simple and efficient mechanism for accomplishing the desired result, said mechanism comprising only a few substantial parts that canbe produced at a low cost of manufacture and which can be .readily assembled and installed .in operative position. There is absolutely no pos sibility of a car becoming derailed or overrunning thestopping members, as said members cooperate directly with theaxle of the car and not with the curved surface of a wheel, as has heretofore been the case.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A mine car stop, comprising a rock shaft arranged longitudinally of and between the rails of the -car track, anda plurali-ty of members on said shaft that are adapted to cooperate with them-inecar.

"2. .A mine car stop, comprising a rock shaft arranged longitudinally of and between the rails of the car track, and a plurality of stop members on said shaft that are adapted to cooperate with apart of the mine car, said members being so arranged that only one of the same is operative at one time.

3. In a mine car stop, a rock shaft arranged longitudinally of and between the rails of the .cartrack, and a pair of devices on said rock shaft that are adapted to cooperate with themine caraxles, said devices being arranged at an angle; to each other so that when one of-said devices lies in the path of a car axle the other one l ies out of the path thereof.

4:. In a mine car stopping and releasing device, the combination of a track, a cage, a car adapted to pass from said track onto said cage, means arranged between the rails of said track forstopping a car that is approaching said cage, and means operated by said cage for rendering said stopping means inoperative. 4

5. A mine car stopping and releasing mechanism, comprising a rock shaft arranged longitudinally of and between the track rails, a member splined onto said rock shaft that normally occupies a vertical or upright position so as to lie in the path of the axle of the car, andmeans whereby said shaft is rocked ,at certain times so as to move said member into an inclined position out of the path of he car axle.

6. A mine car stopping and releasing mechanism, comprising a rock shaft mounted in bearings between the track rails, and a member splined to saidishaft and adapted to cooperate with the car to stop the same when the shaft is rocked in one direction.

7 A mine car stopping and releasing mechanism, comprising a rock shaft mounted in bearings between the track rails, a member splined to saidshaft and adapted to cooperate with the car to stop the same when the shaft is rocked in one direction, and a, spring interposed between said member and an adjacent bearing.

WM. HARTMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, 110? 

